New releases today: Modern Classical

Review: Adapted from the Premio Strega-winning novel of the same name, penned by Antonio Scurati, M - Son of the Century is an ambitious performance piece about the political rise of Benito Mussolini, directed by BAFTA-grabber Joe Wright. As for the soundtrack, one half of The Chemical Brothers, Tom Rowlands, delivers a spellbinding, raw and truly emotional electronic epic which translates a tense and uneasy tale into sounds. "A lot of this original soundtrack was built around playing old acoustic instruments using modern electronics; working in that way helped me reference the past yet still create something fresh and dynamic," Rowlands has said of his efforts. A thoroughly unique and masterful series of compositions which could only have been created by a master of the craft.

Review: And the award for best box set idea of the year goes to Ghostly International, who've recognised the untapped crossover market potential between tape culture and architecturally minded 3D sandbox gaming. Both Minecraft and cassettes offer unequivocal home downtime experiences, so what better way than to celebrate such ingenious associations than with a mammoth expansion of Daniel Rosenfeld's original soundtrack under the name C418? After many vinyl and CD reissues became fanatic cult favorites, with several sold-out color variants, now both volumes Alpha and Beta appear in opaque green; assuming the rewind button functions properly and the reels haven't garbled round the spools, you're in for a degradable lo-fi treat and analogue alternative listening experience; mute the laptop output and fire up the Nakamichi, you wally.

Review: A striking collection of digitally manipulated piano pieces, each one of them on this album are named after iconic films and TV shows. They are all crafted late at night as a response to passive media consumption and aim to blur the line between classical impressionism and contemporary digital manipulation. Drawing inspiration from Viktor Shklovsky's concept of "ostranenie" (which means estrangement), the work challenges habitual perceptions and makes the familiar feel strange. The music oscillates between mechanical MIDI chaos and intimate, fragile moments that question the emotional stakes of sound in a world where technology can often flatten deeper meaning. It's a profound exploration of art's role in resisting the numbing effects of mindless routine and endless immersion culture.

Review: First released three years ago and now receiving a deserved reissue, I Am A Tree I Am A Mouth is undoubtedly one of the most magic albums by Australian-American sprano and composer Jane Sheldon - an artist famed for her unique, voice-based works. While the album is not entirely made up of layered vocals and vocalisations - Sheldon employs long, languid ambient drones and textures throughout - they're naturally the focal point. Most of the lyrics (mostly sung, but some spoken) are taken from Rainer Maria Rilke's 1995 tome The Book of Hours (meaning Sheldon largely sings in German), and these are delivered in all manner of inspired ways. The results are uniformly dazzling, blurring the boundaries between chamber music, neo-classical and ambient music's experimental fringes.

Review: A quarter of a century is a long time in any form of media or entertainment. But when it comes to video games and music, it might as well be a full century. What feels like a lifetime ago, in 2000 The Sims helped define a playable genre that had only seen niche popularity in the past with titles like Little Computer People and Creatures, and more mainstream attention with the standalone pet-in-your-pocket craze kickstarted by Tamagotchis. Breaking open the barriers between regular folk and the idea of living an entire life through a character on screen - now something we've become very used to - The Sims was revolutionary and appealed across the board. So it needed a soundtrack that could do the same. And that's exactly what it got. Beautifully immersive piano overtures, bouncy chip tunes, the kind of tracks you might find on a home shopping channel interlude... you get the point.